BCCHardware

Weekly Tech Update #447 - Good, Bad and Ugly Apples

Wednesday, 09 January 2019 01:42
Written by Benjamin "Zeus" Heide

We have just posted up Episode #447 of Weekly Tech Update! In this episode we are discussing the good, the bad and the ugly of Apple, EA's Great Game Guarantee as well as we're looking forward to CES 2019. We have those stories and more...

Able Planet @ CES 2013

Saturday, 12 January 2013 20:58
Written by Benjamin "Zeus" Heide

It’s been a couple of years since we spent time with Able Planet and they have certainly grown from their humble first CES back in 2007. They’ve won a few awards, and by a few - I mean they have an entire trophy wall. This year their big CES-announcement was a partnership with Bayer - and their division call Vivi Touch. Vivi Touch uses electro-magnetic polymers to make actuators and in this case - to precisely control the vibration of a plastic membrane.

This membrane will be used in some upcoming headphones designed exclusively for gamers, music and movie lovers. The idea is that Vivi Touch will enable precise vibration control which will accurately reproduce and enhance a “bass experience” in the headphones. There have been a few companies that have made vibration or “force feedback” headphones. The inherant problem with these is that they use a couple of motors in them - much like an Xbox controller to simply shake your ears. There is no precision, and very little difference. The Vivi Touch-enabled prototype shows more precision and a wide range of intensity and frequency of the vibration.

Able Planet hopes to launch these at E3 and we’ll be sure to have some coverage of the launch of these and hopefully a review to find out how music and movies will play on these. The demo we received at the show was mostly for gaming - and it was pretty cool.

ROCCAT Pure White Kone Giveaway

Wednesday, 04 December 2013 07:49
Last Updated on Wednesday, 04 December 2013 20:56
Written by Benjamin "Zeus" Heide

If you're dreaming of a white Christmas, we may just have the thing for you. BCCHardware and WeeklyTechUpdate have teamed up with ROCCAT to give away their brand-new Kone Pure White mouse! This mouse is their flagship mouse and they've released a white version for the winter season. Let's face it, everyone has a black mouse, but a white one like this really stands out. The Kone Pure White is an absolutely fantastic mouse.

Go pure wild with the limited edition color versions of the ROCCAT™ Kone Pure, issued to celebrate the five year anniversary since the game-changing ROCCAT™ Kone was released – paving the way for an award-winning series of mice. The Kone series includes some of the most successful gaming mice ever made, and has pioneered breakthrough design innovations such as Easy-Shift[+]™, Talk®, and Talk® FX – and tons more.

With legendary Kone blood running through its veins, the limited edition Kone Pure is available in four killer colors – combining jaw-dropping design with the gaming performance only ROCCAT™ can deliver.

Adding to the original black Kone Pure, the mouse will be available in these awesome styles: Phantom White, Inferno Orange, Hellfire Red, and Polar Blue – so you can unleash your choice of koneage.

Giveaway Details:

This contest will run until 11:59pm, December 31, 2013. At that time we'll draw a random name from participants. How do you participate? Check the details below.

Zalman at CES 2014

Sunday, 12 January 2014 06:23
Written by Benjamin "Zeus" Heide

Zalman shows off a really cool case that is almost ready to go to production. It has some pretty funky fan control options and some features than separate it from other cases. Take a look at it in action in this video.

In addition to the super cool case that Zalman is showing off this year, they do have a bunch of other stuff including mice, coolers, fans, secure hard drive enclosures and a few audio products. They seem to be adapting well and we hope to see them continue releasing good products for many years.

ASUS Peripherals and Networking at CES 2015

Saturday, 10 January 2015 08:09
Last Updated on Saturday, 10 January 2015 08:22
Written by Eric "Ironman" Johnsen

ASUS was showing off some amazing things at CES this year. A couple of those things are some new mice that will be hitting the market soon, a headset with a built in controller unit that has a sound card built into it (ASUS' answer to ROCCAT's KAVE headset), a silicone mouse pad that gives really smooth movement and a couple of mice that will be hitting the market soon.

First we'll start with the Strix 7.1 gaming headset which boasts 10, thats right, 10 neodymium magnets drivers and volume controls for each channel. This headset also comes with 4 game-audio profiles that can be changed depending on the game and environmental noise cancellation for almost full immersion into the game. The three ROG mice that ASUS put on display were the Gladius, the Sica (for right and left handed), and the Spatha. Of the three the Spatha is going to be the only one that is wireless however the Sica and the Gladius both have removable switches that can be swapped in and out.

To top it off ASUS showed off a new gamepad that will have a silicon base that will help it to be anti-slip and anti-porous which will help keep dirt, grime, and bad odors from getting into the pad. As an added bonus ASUS was also celebrating that over 500 million of their boards have been purchased and had some cool customized rigs on display for the achievement.